


From Each According to His Ability, to Each According to His Needs

by OfMonstersAndWerewolves



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Ableism, Activism, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Anarchism, Anarchist!Alice Jones, Christmas, Communism, Communist!Robin Mills, Direct Action, Established Relationship, F/F, Food, Gen, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Sex, Internalised ableism, Leftism, Marxist!Robin Mills, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of psychosis, Mild Language, Mutual Aid, Prompt Fic, Socialism, Winter, anti-police, marxism, mentions of theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28315023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfMonstersAndWerewolves/pseuds/OfMonstersAndWerewolves
Summary: Robin is helping out at a local homeless encampment and Alice has joined her for the day. But Alice isn't sure she's doing enough...
Relationships: Alice Jones | Tilly/Robin | Margot
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: OMAW Christmas Prompt Challenge 2020





	From Each According to His Ability, to Each According to His Needs

**Author's Note:**

> _I'm taking part in a short Christmas themed prompt challenge to occupy me for these next few days or so._
> 
> Prompt - **'Your ship spend Christmas volunteering to feed those in need.'**
> 
> I've gone for a slightly more radical idea for this prompt. I've taken care to treat the issue with sensitivity as I didn't want to romanticise or trivialise real activist work or real issues that people face as a means to prop up a ship. 
> 
> Because of this, I've tried to focus on a personal topic that many activists go through at some point regarding the perception that they're not doing enough, and the pressure that people often put on themselves because of it. Though in Alice's case, there's also an aspect of internalised ableism with her mental illness and what that allows her to do, which I know many disabled activists often have to deal with.
> 
> Keep in mind, of course, that this is just a work of fiction, so this won't be entirely accurate.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

There were tents everywhere. That much she could see from even there.

Bits of plywood, metal fences and overturned bins were stacked together with a multitude of other items to form a barricade encircling the park entrance. Quotes and chants had been daubed on surfaces in paint or chalk.

“Alice?” She turned, finding Robin pocketing her phone and hurrying over to her. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I want to help. Perhaps with the tables or setting anything up.”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah of course. Well, there’s always something that needs doing. But there’s a few things you'll need to know first.”

They made their way into the park, passed the barricades, making their way to the main ‘hub', if you like, passing many of the inhabitants of the park as they did so. Some nodded or smiled in greeting, others ignored them. A guitarist was playing some music, and Alice could hear singing some way off.

Alice knew from personal experience just how bad this time of year could get if you had no warm house to go to. The cold would freeze your blood in ice, and shatter lungs in raspy breathes.

Christmas wasn't always freshly baked mince pies and cozy film nights by the fire. For some it was a time of dread, when the warmth gradually left and the light made shorter and shorter visits.

Being fairly young and healthy at the time, at least physically, she'd had a better chance than most. Many had no such luxury.

Reaching a series of tables, Alice recognised a few of her fellow comrades – the ones not hidden so much by a balaclava or mask – though even more were unfamiliar to her.

Her friend Tiana would cook some food, with the help of her husband Naveen – he was apparently with some other people checking for cops. Robin’s cousin Henry had started his podcast about the history of evictions in the city, and had started work on writing up a few books on the subject. Ella, his wife, made beignets and set up the odd petition now and then if there was a chance it might have any impact.

Beyond today, Alice had painted some murals and graffitied a little; mostly minor stuff that wouldn't require arrest if caught. Much too anxious, usually, for much else. She also couldn't risk not having her antipsychotic meds with her, and getting arrested was a sure-fire way of leading to that situation. She'd felt pretty awful the last time she'd forgotten to take a tablet, and she’d rather not put herself at risk like that.

It turned out Robin was right. There was always something that could be helped with: setting up a table, handing out zines or beignets, carting around boxes of this and that, accepting donations, talking tactics or strategies, deescalating conflicts, wheatpasting posters up, covering over fascist stickers or graffiti. She couldn't do all of them, but what she could do in the moment she did.

Time seemed to fly, and before long she'd gotten hungry. 

Alice hummed in contentment. “This gumbo’s amazing!”

“Thanks very much. Told you you should have come down before now,” Tiana said, winking at her.

She blushed, realising she'd said it as loud as she had and quickly shuffled away from the food table. A few minutes later and Robin was back by her side, also with a bowl full of gumbo.

Following along after Robin, they passed a tree, a piece of paper hanging to the trunk. It informed anyone who cared enough to read it of the sweep that was scheduled to happen the following morning.

They found a place at the far side of the park, at the exit they’d reckoned was the least likely to be entered by cops. Sitting down on a bench beside the path, Alice realised it was missing a metal bar that used to run across the middle. All the better for sleeping on.

“Looking at our handiwork? One of the residents. You wouldn't believe how quickly someone can disassemble a hand rail from a bench. Think that kind of thing was his job, when he had one. I helped cart it back.” 

“I think I’ll head back after I’ve eaten.”

“Yeah? Don't want to wait until the film tonight? We've got the best second hand projector all ready for it.”

“I don't think I will. Where are you projecting it again?” Robin pointed up at a building beside them. “It's big enough." She sighed. "You do so much.” 

Robin's eyebrows furrowed. “I mean, yeah. But we’re all in this together. It’s not about what we do individually, not really. It’s what we achieve as a collective.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Al?” she said, before her look changed. “You’re doing plenty, Alice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“It doesn’t feel like it sometimes. I have trouble even at the food bank.”

“Hey, none of that. So you struggle. So what? You can’t come out here very often. And?! Whatever you can do is amazing. Everyone's situation is different. Your work is invaluable. We need you, Alice, just as much as we need protesters and black bloc and folks out here every day.”

“I just wish I could do more.”

“Don’t we all?”

True.

“Very philosophical today. Have you been reading a lot lately?”

“A bit. You know you light up my life, Alice, don’t you? You help remind me why I do this. Keep me on the right track. You’re doing what you can, and that’s all anyone can ask of you. People to love, it’s the best thing there is,” she praised, putting her bowl onto the ground beside her feet. “And those placards you helped make? And those murals and artpieces?”

“They’re not bad, I’ll give you that,” Alice said, wiping the side of her girlfriend’s mouth with the end of her sleeve and then wiping it on her trousers.

“Not bad? Al, _I_ can’t draw for shit! We need entertainment to keep us going. We’re in this together. All of us. We need that joy and time away to stop burn out. And I can tell you’ve been feeling it, at least a little bit.”

Alice looked in her eyes, sighing. “You know me too well.”

“But – I mean heck - if the only thing you could do was exist in this messed up world we live in. That's a life well lived. Forget what you can do for anyone else, you're worth it for what you are – who you are.”

“So my life has worth-”

“Uh huh.”

“-because I'm a lesbian.”

“Yes, exactly that.”

They both burst out laughing.

“But seriously, you’re amazing and doing fine. You know what they say, ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.’”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Marxist,” she muttered.

“Anarchist,” Robin teased back. Alice nudged her with her elbow, smiling bashfully. “Specifically a... what are you again? Ancom? I don't know, there’s too many to keep track of these days. Oh, I've got you something.”

She reached into her jacket pocket and produced a pocket watch.

It looked expensive. Too expensive. “Where'd you get it from?”

Her girlfriend leant forward to whisper in her ear. “You didn't see shit.”

“Living up to your nickname, huh Miss Hood?”

Her girlfriend wasn't bad at gift giving. She knew what one present would be on the day itself. They had a tradition, one of very few, where every Christmas Robin would get her a bracelet of some kind, usually hand made, so they were often a little haphazard, especially at the start of the relationship. They'd gotten better as the years had gone on. And now that collection had grown to 8.

But Alice also suspected there would be another special present this year. Another item of jewellery Robin had probably also stolen from some big corporation. And now with this, it almost but confirmed it. 

It had took her long enough.

She tried to hide a squeal of excitement; a smile morphed onto her face instead.

Not long after, the pair had finished eating.

“What are the plans for everyone?” Alice said, looking around the park sadly.

Robin shrugged. “We don't know. Some might squeeze into temporary accommodation. There's a few more parks and spaces they could pitch their tents in. I think there's been talks of helping them move. Squatting in abandoned buildings – though you didn't hear that from me,” Robin added quietly.

Robin yawned. “Think you should take your own advice. How much have you been doing lately? Love, you need a break.”

“But I-”

“Ah ah ah ah. No buts.”

“Aww, not even one,” she whined.

Alice feigned shock, her mouth agape, before shutting it again and shaking her head. “We'll see,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

The flirt seemed to work. “Go on then,” Robin said and Alice squealed a little in excitement. “What were you thinking?”

“Well, beyond... you-know-what, I was thinking film night.”

“What do you fancy watching then?”

Alice thought about it, flitting through ideas in her head. “Arthur Christmas,” she said eventually.

“Arthur Christmas it is then. Come on then. I’ll take these back,” – she picked up the bowls and spoons – “and go tell Tia we’re heading off.”

As the two made to leave, Alice gave Robin a quick peck on the cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” she replied, as the two strode off back through the park.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Happy Holidays everyone! And stay safe!


End file.
